Letting celebrities get away with drug crimes is sending out the wrong message to "impressionable" young people, a UN report has warned.

The United Nations drug control agency has for the first time highlighted the damaging influence drug-using celebrities - such as Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty and Kate Moss in Britain - have on fans.

Without specifically naming anyone, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said in its annual report that leniency by police and courts towards famous people undermines the criminal justice system.

"There should not be any difference between a celebrity who is breaking the law and non-celebrities," INCB member Professor Hamid Ghodse said.

"Not only does it give the wrong messages to young people, who are often quite impressionable, but the wider public become cynical about the responses to drug offenders."

The UN agency urged governments to pay more attention to high profile drug abuse cases, saying the glamorisation of drug abuse is especially relevant for young people who are "often most vulnerable" to the cult of celebrity.